Tempus Fugit
by Thanatos's daughter
Summary: Time is not cruel or fast or slow.Time is abstract. There is no beginning and no end. A beginning always follows an end and vice versa. Time is history and future and present and all that ever was or will be. It is all encompassing, both everything and nothing. It is a mere human ideal, containing no real meaning. It is no wonder bad things happen to those who mess with Time.
**Sounds of laughter and merriment rang through the twisting corridors of the ancient castle, joy washing the bloodshed from the cracks left behind by the not-quite-forgotten Second Wizarding War. Oh, the majority of the children whose blood was shed on the aging stones have since abandoned Her corridors, but Hogwarts herself is still touched by the hatred so deeply seeped into her walls. The students who walk Her** **halls** **are the children of Her children, the ones who she was unable to protect, and all are still affected by a war in which they never fought.
No child knows this better than the Slytherin boy, sitting in the sole arm chair in the dark Common Room. Easily missed by wandering eyes in his residence by the corner, bright green eyes overlook the populace. Wispy black hair falls on his face and, when the boy standing beside him, gestures frantically, a smirk flits naturally across his features.  
"Scorpius honestly, when are you going to admit you are in love with my cousin?" Albus mocked, looking at his friend with a glint in his emerald eyes. Scorpius flushed immediately at the notion of "Him and Rose, Salazar forbid!"' He moved to speak, but was interrupted by a deep chuckle from behind him.  
"I reckon it'll be the same time he admits his family can't reproduce normally and simply clone themselves to create the next generation. " Nott jibed. The son of Theodore Nott and Pansy Parkinson, his and Scorpius' family had been friends since their Hogwarts years, so the jibe was joking. That, however, didn't stop Scorpius' face from turning an even deeper shade of red. Albus smirked and released his own low chuckle.  
"How dare you- I have no feelings for Rose whatsoever Albus!" Scorpius sputtered indignantly.  
"Careful Scorpius. You lose your cool Malfoy composure anymore and we won't have any choice but to believe you're lying to us. Isn't that right Kaeso?" Albus smirked at his fellow Slytherin as he stood and tutted at Scorpius mocking. Nott simply laughed at his friend's predicament while Scorpius huffed.  
"You enjoy getting a rise out of me, don't you Al?"  
"If you didn't make it so easy Scorpius, I wouldn't. Honestly, and you call yourself a Slytherin." By that point in the conversation the glint in Albus Potter's eyes had risen to a sheen that made the emerald orbs seem to glow, however, with his back turned to collect his book, neither companion noticed.  
"Not everyone is naturally a manipulative bastard." Scorpius teased, falling into his place at Albus' side as they made their way out of the dim commons area and into the dank dungeon corridors, the wall sliding back into place with a soft scraping noise.  
** **"** **Is that why no one can keep up with me? You should've told me it was so much effort to come up with your** **sub par** **jibes Scorpius dear, I wasn't aware my intellect was too much to comprehend." Albus jeered lightly at Scorpius as he swiftly made his way through the corridor, turning** **every** **so often.  
** **"** **Very funny Albus. Honestly, why do I put up with you?" Scorpius muttered, grudgingly behind his best friend and observing the determined way he navigated through Hogwarts twisting corridors.  
** **"** **Most likely because no one else was willing to tolerate your narcissistic tendencies, materialism, and spoilt whining." Albus replied fluidly, slipping into the familiar conversation with ease as he climbed stair after stair. Honestly, with all the magic the Founders possessed, they could only get the staircases to move around not the actual stairs to move up!  
** **"** **I suppose that's why you're friends with me. No one else would put up with your haughty attitude, natural asshole behavior, and mood swings." Scorpius answered just as fluidly, smirking slightly at the boy as they reached the top of the stairs. Stepping away from the soft green fire of the dungeons into the harsh light of the open corridors was always a minor shock to him and he always envied Albus' ability to look completely unfazed by the drastic lighting difference.  
** **"** **I suppose we were destined to be together darling." Albus mocked, turning to face him, emerald eyes taunting. Normally Albus' mocking would have caused whispers, but the halls were surprisingly empty, so Scorpius' cheeks tinting pink went unnoticed. Sighing Scorpius continued along the corridor, looking outside into the autumn atmosphere. Gentle winds blew gold leaves across the Hogwarts grounds, sending them dancing while students sat and chatted beneath colorful greenery.  
** **"** **Where exactly are we going?"  
** **"** **The Library. I need to check out a suspicion I have." Albus replied.**

* * *

Picking up the dusty tome with the utmost relevance Albus sets it gently on the table before them both, careful not to damage the leather bound spine. They were sitting in a rather dark, secluded section of the library where many of the older texts were kept however the lack of decent lighting did not dimmer the golden sheen that the text possessed. Set before a confused Scorpius Malfoy lays a book he thought was long burned, Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy.  
"Why the hell did you make me walk up four flights of stairs to go to the stuffy library on a beautiful autumn day to read a book on blood fanatic history? Albus!" Scorpius demanded angrily, his words barely a whisper and his knuckles white.  
"What are you going on about? This is perfect! My father refuses to tell me anything about our family. This book will help us find out." Albus smiled before flipping through to find the name "Potter".  
At this precise moment a large spider, easily the size of Scorpius' fist, dropped from the intricate web in front of him. Thinking quickly Scorpius brandished his wand and called out, interrupting Albus' sentence.  
" _Evanesco!"  
_ " _Ante manifestante?_ What-" _  
_The spell, a dull blue shimmer that should've hovered over the spider as it Vanished out of existence, was instead focused on the reading form of Albus Potter, who had unknowingly cast his own magic. A dark, white light pulsed out of his body, lighting up the library in a momentary flash before in was contracted back into his core. The light shimmer that was meant for the stunned arachnid instead coated Albus like a sheen of sweat, subtly twisting it's magic until it found a new purpose. Another pulse of light brightened the library and, as stunned onlookers stared, Albus Potter blinked out of existence.  
The spider stayed where it was.


End file.
